Can't Get a Job? Sue Your School!

At least that's what Trina Thompson, a 27-year-old recent graduate of New York's Monroe College advises. Thompson graduated in April with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology. On July 24, she filed suit against the college, alleging that Monroe's "Office of Career Advancement did not help me with a full-time job placement. I am also suing them because of the stress I have been going through." She seeks $70,000 in tuition reimbursement and another $2,000 to compensate for the stress of not finding a job... after a mere three months of searching! Seriously?

There are several people who have been without a job for well over three months, yet she claims that "any reasonable employer would pounce on an applicant with her academic credentials, which include a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record." Again, I must ask, seriously? I mean no offense to her or others that have a 2.7 or lower GPA, but that's certainly not a GPA I would call "good," and especially not one that would cause potential employers to "pounce" over; especially from an unranked school. She has apparently peppered companies on Monroe's e-recruiting site with résumés, yet received no more than two responses, neither of which led to a job offer. According to Thompson, Monroe's Office of Career Advancement has not tried hard enough for her, suggesting that the department should have made sure the college's e-recruiting clients called recent graduates for an interview. Seriously?

Then again, maybe Monroe College is partially to blame. After all, if she's that naive to think that a 2.7 GPA is going to garner a large amount of offers in this economy, then maybe Monroe College needs to start offering a course in common sense and make its completion a graduation requirement.